RheaI felt better than I had ever felt. We made it home from our trip and I felt confident, relaxed, and more myself than I had in a long time. I felt comfortable with all the boys now and I had no doubts they loved me. I had no doubts they were committed to me. Part of me felt a bit anxious about going home and facing the Alpha and Luna. Of course, I knew Alpha Angus would likely approve. He always saw me as a member of the family. Lionel squeezed my hand as the car and looked at me contemplative. “Are you okay, baby?” he asked, sounding truly concerned. I smiled and tried to seem more confident than I felt. “Yeah, I’m okay… I guess I’m just a little nervous. I’m worried that people won’t be accepting…” I wanted to sound self-assured but my voice came out in a timid whisper. Lionel gripped my chin and kissed me deeply. “Don’t worry, my love, it’ll be okay. We won’t let anyone hurt you or harass you again.” He kissed me again as if that sealed the statement.
RheaI wondered what Anastasia meant by saying my good days were numbered. I decided to ignore it for now, even though her words sent anxiety gnawing at my insides. I just had to be careful.Instead of focusing on her, I focused on school. I decided I wanted to become a doctor, so I needed to focus on keeping my grades up. That was going to be hard if the boys kept whisking me away on random trips all the time.When I told my friends about my plans to become a doctor at lunch, they rolled their eyes.“Rhea, you’re going to be in school for so long,” Nina said. “And you’ll probably learn a lot of things you’d rather not know,” Emma admitted. “People are gross. All those injuries and diseases . . . blech.”She shook her head in disgust. I turned my head to look at her.“I know, but I want to help people,” I said. “What better way to do that than to become a doctor?”“There are plenty of ways to help people that don’t involve going to school for eight more years,”
RheaDylan undid his belt, then eyed my hands. I started to undo my pants as well.“Mind if I try something?” Dylan asked.“Sure!” I exclaimed, wondering where he was going with this.“How do you feel about being tied up?” he asked.The thought had never occurred to me, and honestly, it filled me with a strange excitement. I smiled.“I think it would be fun,” I admitted.“Then, lay down, princess,” Dylan said. He tied my hands to the headboard. He made sure the belt was tight, but not too tight so I still had circulation. I was glad that I didn’t have to worry about what to do with my hands now. He finished taking off my pants and underwear, leaving me completely exposed to him. He took off the rest of his clothes and lay down between my legs.“I know you’re just aching for me, aren’t you?” he asked, running a finger between my folds.I shivered. “Y-yes.”“Hmm,” Dylan replied, taking his time with me. “I want you, too. I can do whatever I want to you,
Rhea/LionelI hated fighting with the boys. It reminded me of when I thought they hated me and they were extremely cruel. But I was stronger now and more confident in myself. I wasn’t going to let them bully me or pressure me into being friends with Anastasia or forgive her for what she did to me. I said nothing to any of them as I got ready for school. I ignored them when they tried to greet me or wish me a good day. I wouldn’t be cruel to them, like they had been to me but I wouldn’t acknowledge them. I headed out and got on the bus for school. When Emma and Anastasia got on, Emma came and sat by me. Nina was in the seat next to me. Anastasia sat in the seat in front of me and looked over the seat back at me. “Hey Rhea, how are you doing?” she asked in a sarcastic sympathetic voice. “I heard you and the brothers are fighting. That’s so sad.” Anastasia touched her heart and made a dramatic pained expression.I narrowed my eyes. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of
RheaI laid in bed, feeling relaxed and so much better. Lionel was napping peacefully next to me. I kissed his shoulder and knew I was deeply in love with him. I loved all of my mates but Lionel seemed to reach me at a deeper level. We had a different sort of connection. I wasn’t sure why but it had hurt the most when he asked me to befriend Anastasia. But I felt better now that he had admitted he was wrong. I crawled out of bed carefully, trying not to wake him up. I got dressed and headed across the hall to my room. When I went inside Zek was already waiting for me. He sat at my desk chair with his elbows on his knees, looking contemplative. “Hey,” I whispered. He looked up as if I had startled him. He was on his feet instantly. He looked anxious and jittery. “Hi, Rhea. Please can I talk to you?” he begged. He was at my side quickly and took my hands in his. I nodded. “I’m so sorry. We all had a talk about Anastasia and I realized it was wrong to expect you to accept h
RheaThe monster towered over me, black mist twirling at its gigantic feet. Its snout protruded from its face, pointing directly at me. Its ears twitched, picking up my every movement. Two scarlet eyes pierced the darkness. Shaggy, matted, dark fur clung to the beast, giving it the feeling of being both alive and dead.All I could smell was the stench of rotting flesh and the metallic smell of blood on its breath. I could taste the smells, feel them in the back of my throat, and it almost made me vomit. I swallowed bile.Fear kept me rooted to the spot. As I stared at the giant wolf creature, my heart pounded against my rib cage. I was certain it could hear my heartbeat. A voice in my head told me to run, but I couldn’t bring myself to make my legs work.The creature stalked towards me slowly. I watched its every move, wondering if it was just curious or if it wanted to kill me. Every step closer, I could feel its hot breath on my face. I watched as it licked its jowls. It
RheaI froze in place. Had the thing really called me Veronica? Where had I heard that name before? Maybe I just heard it wrong.I was just about to shift back and ask what was going on when the wolf’s head snapped to the right. I heard it too. Someone was walking this way. Its eyes went wide, and it ran off in the opposite direction. I couldn’t believe it. Surely, it could take whoever was coming in a fight. Why was it running?Why did it call me Veronica?Who even was Veronica?I shifted back into my human form and started to make my way back to the pack house. I realized quickly that I had turned myself around in the forest and was hopelessly lost. I tried retracing my steps, following the blood splatters from both me and that monster.Fortunately, in my human form, I was more or less unscathed, so I was able to walk without much trouble. I found the trees we destroyed, and there was the clearing where most of our battle had taken place. If I turned around here…
RheaI felt sick and my head was hot. I couldn’t believe even Anastasia would lie like that. How could this be happening? I knew Anastasia hated me and wanted to kill me but was she really willing to let a monster run free just to get back at me?How could she be so evil? How could she not be as terrified as I was? The monster had attacked her, wasn’t she worried it would come back? I looked at her face and it was clear she wasn’t. She was just smug and happy for the opportunity to blame me. I wanted to scream. I felt like my defense was drowned out by her dramatic displays of pain. It seemed so obvious to me that she was faking. The monster had hurt her but she was playing it up for the Horace brothers. How did they not see that? But still, I tried. Surely, my mates would believe me. They were my mates, after all, not hers. “I didn’t do this. I tried to warn her. There was a monstrous wolf-like beast. It attacked me before and came back to attack again. Please believe me